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Cops Corner: Sarasota

May 11PUT IT IN WRITING2:08 p.m. — 2100 block of Main Street.Graffiti. A law firm employee reported that someone spray- painted “666,” “Westside,” “stay free,” and a curse word on the west wall of the building. Other businesses nearby also had been spray painted with the phrases.

May 13Conflicting stories
2 p.m. — 1400 block of Main Street.Battery. A man was forcibly removed from a bar for being extremely intoxicated and acting inappropriately with female customers. The man was arrested after he caused a disturbance outside. The man told police he was thrown to the ground by two bouncers and wanted to press charges, but his story didn’t hold up.

May 14INTO THIN AIR
1:15 p.m. — 1100 block of Ritz-Carlton Drive. Motor Vehicle Theft. A hotel security officer reported that a guest’s Jaguar that was parked in an area outside of the hotel’s video surveillance area had vanished.

RETURN POLICY1:30 p.m. — 1400 block of Main Street. Trespassing. A clothing boutique owner had a woman trespassed from her store after she threw a fit when the store refused to accept a pair of used earrings as a return.
Unwelcome guest
6:32 p.m. — 1600 block of Fifth Street. Suspicious Circumstance. A woman told police she found a man sitting in the middle of her backyard when she got home. When she confronted him and asked him to leave, he told her he was waiting for her husband to come home. The couple didn’t know the man, and he left the scene before police arrived.

SHOP TILL YOU FLEE6:10 p.m. — 3800 block of South Osprey Avenue.Shoplifting. Grocery-store employees told police they stopped two women from walking out of the store with $473.90 worth of groceries. The women left the cart and fled the store. Police found one of the women at her home and arrested her for grand theft and made plans to arrest the second suspect.

May 15Creative loafing
4:42 a.m. — 2800 block of Fruitville Road.Suspicious Person. Police found a woman sleeping in an elevator and told her to leave the area.

DO NOT PASS GO8:48 a.m. — 1800 block of South Tamiami Trail. Theft. A gas station manager told police a female employee was suspected of stealing money from a wallet he found. The wallet was originally found on top of a gas pump with eight $100 bills inside it. A co-worker reported to the manager that the employee in question handed her three $100 bills at the end of his shift and told her not to say anything about it. The owner of the wallet said he wouldn’t press charges if the employee returned the $400 that was missing. Police contacted the co-worker, and she agreed to give back the money after being told she wouldn’t go to jail.

Root of the problem12 p.m. — 2300 block of Ringling Boulevard.Theft. A man reported that seven landscaping plants were pulled out of his front yard.

SPLASHY EXIT11:57 p.m. — 800 block of South Tamiami Trail. Suspicious Circumstance. A condominium manager reported five people swimming in the condominium’s pool after hours. After discovering they were there with a condo owner, they were not issued trespass warnings but were asked to leave the area.

MAY 16PRAYERS HAVE NOT BEEN ANSWERED
12:57 a.m. — 1200 block of Cocoanut Avenue.Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer. A man told police that an unknown male suspect barged into his house, beat up his roommate and took control of his house. Police called backup and reported that a burglar was still inside the house. Two police officers entered the home and found a man kneeling in the middle of the living room, chanting incoherently with his hands behind his back while he clutched what appeared to be prayer beads. One officer grabbed his left wrist to place him under arrest, but the man sprang to his feet and exclaimed, “My hands are already bound by these beads, and you will not put those handcuffs on me!” Officers tasered the man, but he only fell to the ground for a second before rising and telling the officers, “I’m going to (expletive) kill you!” He began to throw punches with both hands while avoiding the taser, striking one officer in the forehead. One of the officers brought the man to the ground and after a struggle, was finally able to handcuff him. Officers realized they were contaminated with the suspect’s blood, and the suspect began spitting blood at them from the floor when he regained consciousness. He was taken to the hospital and arrested for resisting arrest and two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer.